rally in Tehran against cartoons published in Charlie Hebdo

Published on : 08/01/2023 – 19:32Modified : 08/01/2023 – 19:34

In Iran, demonstrators gathered on Sunday outside the French Embassy in Tehran to protest once morest the publication of cartoons featuring Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and published in the Charlie Hebdo newspaper. The demonstrators chanted slogans hostile to France and burned French flags.

Several dozen Iranians gathered on Sunday, January 8, in front of the French Embassy in Tehran where they burned French flags to protest once morest the caricatures of the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic published in the French satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo.

Gathered in central Tehran, the demonstrators, mostly students of Shiite seminaries and women in chadors, held Iranian flags, portraits of Khamenei and signs denouncing the satirical newspaper, AFP journalists noted.

“Oh France, abandon your hostility!” and “Shame on France”, chanted the demonstrators who burned French flags.

Charlie Hebdo published on Wednesday a series of cartoons featuring the highest religious and political figure in the Islamic Republic of Iran, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

Tehran hits back

Iran has denounced the “insulting and indecent” cartoons that appeared in a special edition to mark the anniversary of the deadly 2015 attack on Charlie Hebdo’s offices in Paris.

The Iranian authorities had warned France that they would take retaliatory measures.

Tehran thus announced the closure of the French Institute for Research in Iran (IFRI)the oldest and largest French research center in the country, affiliated to the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The IFRI, located in the center of the Iranian capital, had been closed for many years. It had reopened under the chairmanship of the moderate Hassan Rouhani (2013-2021) as a sign of the warming of bilateral relations.

On Sunday, in front of the French Embassy, ​​Karim Heydarpour, a 17-year-old seminary student, told AFP that he had participated in the rally to “support the Revolution and the Supreme Guide”.

“We have to give (opponents of the Islamic Republic) an answer so that they don’t think that we don’t support our Revolution,” he said.

Another gathering in Qom

A similar gathering took place earlier in Qom, a Shiite holy city nearly 150 km south of Tehran, according to state television footage.

Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Nasser Kanani said on Sunday that freedom of speech should not be used as a pretext to “insult” religious figures.

He called on Paris to “respect the fundamental principles of international relations”, and not to interfere in Iran’s internal affairs.

Charlie Hebdo said it published these cartoons to support the Iranian people during protests sparked by the September 16 death of Mahsa Aminia 22-year-old Iranian woman who died following being arrested by the vice police.

With AFP